122 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



exists between tlie quadruped and the biped, whatever 

 is agreeable to tlie one is usually so to tlie other, a 

 roomy saddle, on which the rider can sit with ease and 

 comfort, is also beneficial to the horse, because it spreads 

 the weight he has to carry over a large surface, and 

 the pressure per square inch being thereby diminished, 

 a sore back is less likely to be created, and per contra, 

 for the very same reason, the human skin is less likely 

 to be rubbed. 



Less than a century ago it was deemed necessary by 

 hunting men to tie their saddle to their horse's tail by 

 a crupper, which, at every jump, must have compressed 

 the vertebras of the poor animal, like the joints of a 

 telescope when slightly closed by a jerk. The object 

 of this barbarous apparatus was to prevent the saddle 

 slipping forwards, whereas, by the opposite apparatus 

 of the present day, a breast-plate has been substituted, 

 to prevent the saddle from slipping backwards. The 

 difference between these two conflicting precautions has 

 been caused by the difference in the breeding, and con- 

 sequently in the size of the horse's belly, which, in the 

 time of our ancestors, was lusty, instead of being — as in 

 the present day, when many hunters are racers, and all 

 in high condition — fine and slim. 



When a horse is exceedingly light in the carcase, or 

 as it is technically termed " tucked up," it is usual among 



